The hunt for the hairdryer

Hospitality rocks. It has to be the one business which is never dull; there are daily challenges and there is always a good glass of red in the evenings when the chaos subsides. Yesterday our Orla had too close of an encounter with a baboon and then a small fire brought life to a head around 4pm. A phenomenal team of quick responders, in both instances, saved the day.

It’s an industry that is fluid and where we are constantly trying to improve because the market is also developing, growing and expectations are forever advancing. Now this can be tough when you are a more established place but it also brings energy to the fold and new ideas spark motivation and excitement. And it’s for this very reason that it’s hugely important that we travel. Product knowledge and product development…. plus we do love new adventures!

We are very fortunate to be hosting an exchange student from Germany and so it was quite important to show her a little more of South Africa and so we headed to Cape Town last weekend. Always fabulous and we had great weather in August! Our first stop was the Winelands. Gorgeous surrounds and a beautiful Manor House.

Now the one thing about staying in places is that you become the guest and experience all the intricate things that go along with the ‘guest experience’. The one big challenge always is finding the hairdryer! The hunt always begins in the dressing table, then it’s the cupboard, followed by the TV cabinet and this time around we discovered the bundle in the bedside table! Next is plugging it in. Quite often it’s under the dressing table which makes the cord too short and the drying experience is with body flopped across the top and is completed with a crick in the neck!

So what do our guests have to put up with? We do have to tie hairdryers down at The Cavern because we have found that these little items can disappear quite quickly. But, hopefully we are making progress by changing plugs to above the dressing table and installing USB ports too. But, we may need to get a few larger hair dryers so that those of us with thick hair don’t have to spend 20 minutes while the rest of the family becomes agitated and wants to dash out the front door.

So it’s good to get an idea of what needs to be done but, it’s also good to have a husband of sound mind and judgement who always reminds me that we don’t have the Austrian Tourist Association’s national budget to implement everything that needs doing.

This week we will focus on the affected room, repairing her charred interior and getting her looking gorgeous once more. We await Orla’s return from the vet and hope the wounds heal quickly and then we’ll be checking out the hairdryers and kettles because the little things do count.

Just taking life one day at a time….